Healing thoughts please for Hal who is at the moment fighting for his life in Towcester Veterinary Centre with kidney failure.Just been speaking to Gnasher (Nikki) and he has made it through the night which is a massive relief. Hal was bred by the late Eddy Harrison one of the founder's of the Utonagan breed.
Just got this from Nikki on our Utonagan Club Forum Latest medical news is that they are operating on him right now. He has kidney stones in his bladder which they are removing. It is a dangerous and tricky operation, so he is not out of the woods yet, but I am keeping everything crossed, TW has sent Tawney to watch over him, Nadia and Lyn B have sent positive messages via TW, so its just stand by the phone and wait for the best. Hal's own vet is not doing the op, but she thought that he had a swollen prostate. That diagnosis probably still stands, its just an x-ray revealed these stones as well. The swollen prostate is caused by Hal being such an arsey little git - a surfeit of testosterone quite common in entire males apparently. The remedy is of course castration, but the vet would prefer to put him on something that will reduce his testosterone without making him infertile so that we can have at least one more litter out of him before castrating him, which is the safest option of course. But for the moment he has to survive a bladder operation which is always dangerous and tricky, so fingers crossed and please everyone send positive thoughts to hal - and darling Tawney who is watching over him. Bless you TW for your support - you are a true friend and I don't know what I would have done without you. Nadia and Lyn if you read this, I will catch up with you later as soon as I can. love to everyone, nikki
will do, I am going to ring her later, if I ring her now she will think it is the surgery and something has gone wrong. Can't believe it has happened, he was bouncing round on Saturday, then this happened on Sunday.:-(
Hi guys - thanks for the positive thoughts. Still no news from the vet - I guess the silly old tart is sleeping off the anaesthetic! I have been like a cat on hot bricks all afternoon - done a mountain of ironing and housework as I haven't gone in to work in case I need to dash down to Towcester. My work have been so sweet and understanding. Thank you to you all - fingers and legs crossed! xx nikki xx
Poor little man, I'm keeping everything crossed that he makes a full recovery. My thoughts are with you all. x
Good news - Hal's fine, he's sleeping off his anaesthetic after a very long operation. His bladder was full of stones of varying sizes, and his urethra, along with a load of what they described as sand. My poor darling boy, what agonies he must have been through without protest, he really is the most extraordinary dog - Eddie would be so proud of him. His prostate though slightly enlarged is nothing to worry about. The vet said it is probably always enlarged due to the large amount of testosterone plus the stones wouldn't have helped. She thinks they are strubite stones, but we have to wait for the lab results. She says he will have to go on a special diet as the BARF diet has probably caused this. I think this is unlikely, because he has only been a BARFer for 2 or 3 years and some of these stones were very large. My bet is that they were caused by the Super Greyhound Racer kibble that we fed him on from between the ages of about 3 and 6. It is a very high protein food and it is going to take a lot of persuading to prise me away from the BARF diet. In any case beef is the main offender, and he eats very little beef, mainly turkey, chicken, lamb and tripe. He eats no dairy whatsoever, no wheat, no rice, no grain in any shape or form, just meat, bones and pureed vegetables and chicken wings. I'm off now to do my research on Strubite stones assuming that that's what they are. A big thank you to all of you for your positive comments. Julie: thanks very much for your kind comments - we have had our run-ins in the past, which make your remarks even more appreciated. Thanks - you're a good friend and "that awfal dog" Hal (lol) will love you for it. Bless you. nikki
sorry to hear about hal, glad he is on the mend , hav'ent been on dogsey for a while, wolfie sends his dad lots of hugs and licks do let us know of any more news, best wishes, nikki
Hi Redwolf: Hal's doing fine thanks very much. He is very much in touch with his feminine side at the moment following his chemical castration which will last about another week or so. He is very mumsy and starving hungry the whole time - now sex isn't the uppermost thing in his mind, all he wants to do is eat, but he still only gets fed once a day must to his disgruntlement! He is weeing almost normally again, and he had his first bath this morning since the op. I got into the bath with him and very gently washed round all the dangly bits where he had to be cut open and he growled at me, so I thought that was a very good sign. He doesn't like his tackle interfered with, and had a good old grumble, so he is beginning to get back to his testosterone-fuelled self! He sounds howls and licks to His Boy !! He's dreaming at the moment and growling ferociously in his sleep accompanied by a frantic galloping of the legs!
Nikki, I've only just seen this thread :-( :-( I'm so sorry I didn't reply sooner :-( :-( Luca sends her Daddy loads of gentle kisses xx
Just seen this; poor Hal, how is he now? Bless him, he reminds me of Loki, body-wise. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hal has managed to come out the other end and is doing really really well. He is almost back to his old self again and Nikki is really relieved I can tell you. She had to go back to work on the 2nd January plus is helping to look after an old lady nearby who has broken her hip so she has not had much time to come on here, I will send her a reminder
